New Year’s Resolution, No; Small Doable Changes, Yes by Kelsey

New Year’s Resolution, No; Small Doable Changes, Yes by Kelsey - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

New Year’s resolution or lies to one’s self about trying to make a change may happen for a week but then will become another attempt at something that will not be followed. Last year this time, going into my second semester of college at Husson University, I promised myself that I would stay organized and get all my homework done as soon as it was due so I would not have to worry about it. As a stated earlier, I ended up being a failed attempt and yet again I was working on homework all the time, sometimes right before the assignment was due. I consider myself to be a good student; I get my homework done on time, I listen and take notes during class, and I study and review before tests to try to do the best I can do. New Year’s resolutions, however, are one thing that I do not do because I know myself and I know that no matter how much I promise myself that I will follow my New Year’s resolution, it will not happen.
For this reason, I am not making myself a New Year’s resolution but instead am telling myself that I am going to reward myself for little accomplishments. When I go back to Bangor this year for my third semester at Husson University, I am going to organize my belongings and school supplies and then I am going to take a break so I will be ready to attend my first day of classes. Luckily for me, this semester starts on a tuesday and I only have one class, so my goal is to go to that class, inquire about what will be needed for that class to stay organized and I am going to get what I need for that class that afternoon. I am also going to go to bed early so I can be ready to attend my other classes on Wednesday with energy. By starting the semester with energy, I will be rewarding myself indirectly by meeting new classmates that I may not have met before and will be recognized by my professors as a student who is there to learn. Yes, these may be viewed as New Year resolutions, however, none of these changes are long term goals but instead are short doable goals that can be carried on to the rest of the semester without being overwhelming.
Continuing my short term goals for this new semester, I have one goal that I started before the new year; I began reading my books for this semester's classes over winter break so I will have less reading to do during the semester. This short term goal is achievable for I read the books that are not necessarily textbooks that are required for this semester. With this done, I will be able to focus more on my assigned readings from the textbooks and will have less reading to do during the semester. This reading allows me to focus more on the assignments and focus less on how much I have to read in short periods of time.
In making these small changes in the new year for my third semester of college, I can be a better student by having more energy and less stress during the semester. Long term goals do not work for me but instead making small changes every week I can find a way to obtain the college students dream of having time to attend classes, do the assigned homework, get enough sleep, and still maintain a social life.